03 August 2009

News from Other Societies - Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay will meet at Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, 14041 Icot Blvd., Clearwater, Florida on Sunday September 13, 2009 presenting Deborah Shapiro Radstrom and Rita Kirstein Shapiro speaking on Hamburg as one of the main embarkation ports for European Jews and accessing its website on the Internet. A social with refreshments and library access begins at 1:30 PM, and the featured program starts at 2:00 PM.

Deborah Shapiro Radstrom and Rita Kirstein Shapiro will present the history of the Port of Hamburg. An emigrant city adjoining the Port housed and fed the masses that converged on Hamburg was developed by one Jewish man, Albert Ballin. This emigrant city helped the thousands of emigrants to depart in an orderly and safe manner to various parts of the world, although most opted for the U.S.A. Our presenters will demonstrate how to use the Port of Hamburg website and its database to research outbound ship’s manifests to locate passengers listed on those manifests. You will learn how to use the tools and techniques at the website to research the Port of Hamburg’s ships manifests.

More than five million people left their homes in Europe between 1850 and 1939 via the Port of Hamburg to start a new life in American. From 1891 on, Hamburg became one of the most important ports for emigrants from all across Europe.

The mission of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay is to assist interested individuals in learning about Jewish genealogy and learning how to research, document and preserve their own family histories. The Society does this by facilitating the exchange of research information, encouraging and facilitating research activities, educating members to help themselves and others, making available research resources and materials, and presenting monthly programs of interest to Jewish genealogical researchers. The Society’s library and research resources include both printed materials and Internet access as well as guided assistance from experienced researchers. Special emphasis is given to helping beginners.

Anyone interested in learning how to do Jewish genealogical research is invited to attend. Beginners as well as experienced researchers are welcome. For information on the organization or directions to the meeting call Sally Israel at 727-343-1652.